Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies

News:
August 2, 2005

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Mormonism is global, but
is it a 'world religion'?
Twenty years ago, University of Washington sociologist Rodney Stark observed
the phenomenal growth of Mormonism and declare that it would "soon
achieve a worldwide following comparable to that of Islam, Buddhism, Christianity,
Hinduism and the other dominant world faiths." (The Salt Lake Tribune)

A
test of faith
Bruce Nelson contracted dengue fever during a mission trip to India two
years ago. Since then, he lost his job as an assistant pastor at Calvary
Chapel Rialto. (San Bernardino Sun, Ca.)

Science in the News

Archaeology/Anthropology

Temple and Artifacts
Discovered in Cairo Suburb
Archaeologists digging in Mataryia, a northeastern suburb of Cairo, Egypt,
have uncovered a temple and a number of statues dating to the rule of Ramesses
II (1279-1212 B.C.) during the 19th Dynasty.

Astronomy

Scientists
Discover Solar System's Tenth Planet -- Bigger Than Pluto
A planet larger than Pluto has been discovered in the outlying regions of
the solar system. The planet was discovered using the Samuel Oschin Telescope
at Palomar Observatory near San Diego, Calif. The planet is a typical member
of the Kuiper belt, but its sheer size in relation to the nine known planets
means that it can only be classified as a planet.

Cassini
Finds Recent And Unusual Geology On Enceladus
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has obtained new, detailed images of the south
polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The data reveal distinctive geological
features and the most youthful terrain seen on the moon. These findings
point to a very complex evolutionary history for Saturn's brightest, whitest
satellite.

NASA
Develops A 'Nugget' To Search For Life In Space
Conceived by scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,
Md., the Neutron/Gamma ray Geologic Tomography (NUGGET) would be able to
generate three-dimensional images of fossils embedded in an outcrop of rock
or beneath the soil of Mars or another planet. Tomography uses radiation
or sound waves to look inside objects. NUGGET could help determine if primitive
forms of life took root on Mars when the planet was awash in water eons
ago.

Multiple
Genetic 'Flavors' May Explain Autism
In a pair of studies, the researchers identify and characterize a number
of mutations in the gene that regulate brain levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter
involved in breathing, digestion, sleep, appetite, blood vessel constriction,
mood and impulsivity. About 25 percent of people with autism have elevated
levels of serotonin in their blood.

New
Method Shows It Is Possible To Grow Bone For Grafts Within A Patient's Body
An international team of biomedical engineers has demonstrated for the first
time that it is possible to grow healthy new bone reliably in one part of
the body and use it to repair damaged bone at a different location. The
research, which is based on a dramatic departure from the current practice
in tissue engineering, is described in a paper titled "In vivo engineering
of organs: The bone bioreactor" published online by the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Science.

Immune
System's Distress Signal Tells Bacteria When To Strike Back
The human opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, has broken the
immune system's code, report researchers from the University of Chicago,
enabling the bacteria to recognize when its host is most vulnerable and
to launch an attack before the weakened host can muster its defenses.

Creation/Evolution

Information
Theory and Creationism
Both young-earth and intelligent-design creationists often claim that evolution
is impossible because of various claims about information such as mutation
and natural selection "cannot create information." This article
provides a brief background on Information Theory and explains how Creationists
such as Werner Gitt and Lee Spetner misuse one of the greatest contributions
of the 20th Century. (This FAQ is more technical than most. It is hoped
that a less technical version will eventually be posted.)

Report
on the 2005 Mega Creation Conference
Part Two After Falwell came David DeWitt, who directs the Center for
Creation Research at Liberty University. He made only a few brief remarks,
emphasizing Liberty's adherence to a literal interpretation of the Bible
from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21 In particular, they believe
Adam and Eve were real people and that God created in six literal days.

Earth Science

Earliest
Embryos Ever Discovered Provide Clues To Dinosaur Evolution
The embryos of a long-necked, herbivorous dinosaur are the earliest ever
recorded for any terrestrial vertebrate and point to how primitive dinosaurs
evolved into the largest animals ever to walk on earth, say scientists from
the University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM), the Smithsonian Institution
and the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Brown
Grad Student's Seismic Study Shakes Up Plate Tectonics
In a surprising study in Nature, a team led by a Brown University graduate
student shows that a sharp boundary exists between the Earth's hard outermost
shell and a more pliable layer beneath. Earths cool, rigid upper layer,
known as the lithosphere, rides on top of its warmer, more pliable neighbor,
the asthenosphere, as a series of massive plates. Plates continuously shift
and break, triggering earthquakes, sparking volcanic eruptions, sculpting
mountains and carving trenches under the sea.

Physics

Watching
The Birth And Death Of Exotic Molecules
Researchers from Korea, Italy, France and the ESRF have just observed how
a molecule changes structure after being hit with a short flash of laser
light. Thanks to very intense pulses of X-rays.

Stress
Slows Wound Healing; Oxygen Helps
Wound healing is slow when an animal is stressed, but supplying oxygen almost
completely reverses the effect, according to researchers at the University
of Illinois.